Runaway Pinecones
Runaway Pine-cones is an episode of Milly Molly. It is a cold winter day and Milly's father is lighting a fire. Molly Horren volunteers to fetch a piece and so does Milly Mandara, so Milly's father says they can fetch one each (note: he says "we don't want an argument now?" Milly and Molly haven't argued against anything that petty since Monday. When they do argue nowadays, it is due to a misunderstanding.) They fetch pine-cones. Molly notices Milly's dad is only using twigs, paper and pine-cones, not logs and asks why. Milly's father says that he will, but they need to get the fire going first with smaller burning things, called kindling, and then add the logs. He also notes pine cones make good kindling. Later that day, both girls take some soup to Mr. Limpy, who is seeing Jack and Tom on their way. Mr. Limpy says he hopes he will have soup for lunch and fish for dinner. Molly asks what he means by "hoping" and Mr. Limpy says that he hopes Jack and Tom will catch a fish. He has paid them in marshmallows. Molly volunteers playing with Taffy Bogle as payment for the soup. In his house, Molly asks Mr.Limpy why he hasn't got his fire going, and he replies that he has run out of fuel. Molly teaches him the word "kindling.". He then says Taffy Bogle is unhappy. The girls volunteer to walk Taffy Bogle so they can cheer him up, and get Mr.Limpy some kindling. They then walk Taffy Bogle to the pine tree near Farmer Heggardy's farm. Milly says she will collect a million pine cones, but Molly says not to collect too many, lest the bottom fall out of the box. Nearby, Jack and Tom are fishing. They feel hopeless as Tom has caught nothing but a boot, Jack has caught nothing, and he is out of bait. Tom suggests using marshmallows. Molly finds a particularly pretty pine cone, and Milly finds an out-of-shape one, which Taffy Bogle likes. The girls and Taffy Bogle are then on their way, when the pine cones fall out the bottom and roll down the hill. Taffy Bogle runs down the hill as well. He then jumps in the water! The girls pull him out. Milly starts getting the irrational notion that if Taffy Bogel is late for dinner, he will catch a cold. The scene is full of a bad mood: Milly is sad as she thinks wet, late-for-dinner dogs catch colds, Molly is sad as she wants Taffy Bogle to have a fire, Taffy Bogle is sad as he has lost his favorite pine cone, and both the boys are sad as they still haven't caught any fish and they have used up all the marshmallows. However things look up when the boys find the pine cones floating downstream and catch them with the fishing net. On the way home, Molly notices Taffy Bogel has dried out, and is about half a minute late for dinner, and has not caught a cold. Jack and Tom cycle by. The girls notice the boys giving Milly's father the oddly shaped pine cone, and Milly's father paying for them. Molly and Tom discuss ownership of the pine cones. Tom thinks they belong to the boys as they got them out of the river, Molly thinks they belong to the girls and dog as Taffy Bogle likes the weird one and they were the ones who "put" them in the river, and Milly's father thinks they are his as he bought them. Jack is on Tom's side as they had no ID. Both girls are angry, but snap out of it when Jack says they sold them to buy fish. Tom tells about how they didn't catch any fish. Milly explains about the pine cones for Mr. Limpy's fire. Molly explains how Taffy Bogle had been unhappy before his walk. Jack reasons that if the boys give the pine cones to the girls, Mr. Limpy will get no dinner. Milly's father is on Jack's side, adding that Milly's father also need a fire. Molly feels sorry for Mr. Limpy as he seems to be in a lose-lose situation: dinner or fire. Milly's father, however, gets a surge of optimism and suggest all four children do some thinking. Milly gets an idea which they play out: collect more pine cones with her dad's truck. Taffy Bogle keeps his pine cone. Soon it is dinner time, and also closing time for the shops. At Mr. Limpy's house, they light a fire and Milly's dad comes in with a winter's supply of pine cones. Then, the boys come in with fish, cheering everybody up. On top of that, they got given marshmallows. Everybody has fish and roasted marshmallows. Mr. Limpy is grateful for the food, the fire and the friendship all four friends have shown. Mr. Limpy decides to reward Jack with TV, the girls with a story of how he got his limp and Tom with a story of a rocket-powered racing car driven by a princess and some wild animals who eat jello.